What makes a project successful? Do you prefer to lead a project or just be part of the project team? Why? Do you like being involved im long-term projects? Read this article and answer questions 1~4. 1. What is volunteerism? 2. What sorts of things can employee volunteers do? 3. Who benefits from volunteering and how? 4. What has Samira Khan learnt from her project? Acommitmentto volunteerism What does volunteerism mean? learning how to organize schedule so that Theclothng manufacture, Timberland, ‘sone they are able to complet the project before ts cfmany large comparies that are commited to deadline She also has to deal wit the budget, ‘vounicerism. Th company encouragesstifto whichis fly limted, so she has to spend spend up 040 paidhoursayearon community carey. And every few days, she gets updates ahd soda projets. The community benefits from from her project team to check on progress thecompany’s resources, staffgun new kis arel decide ifthey need more resources She and teamwork improves. ‘finds working on this proect very rewarding ‘The French food manufacturer, Danone, and is pleased tobe learning new skills. allows ts employees to spend time in developing ‘countries, working on projects in areas ike conservation, teaching caring or building In doing so, they can share their own skills, and at the same time, they gan new ideas and insights, ‘ane Joar from the experinces of others. ‘Ateam frm the banking group, HBOS, volunteered to help bud an extension to schoo! {nLa Esperanza in Honduras. Linda Marshall, + the project leader, sad, ‘leamt that wen new teams are forming, tis essential that objectives ‘are agreed and everyone buys into them. This is ‘a crucial factor to any project's success. — What can volunteering do for you? Software enginer, Samira Kha, is in charge of ‘a volunteer project to redecorate a community ‘centre forthe elderly in Chicago, Managing projects anew experience for her. She is2. Label these items with the words in bold from the text in 1. | SenSnseEnnTTE [was agreed that Jonas will ‘Took at ways of cutting ‘spending «talk tothe bank about aloan ‘* alm to balance the books in 6 months. Vere: Total: €2,000 €4,000 €6,350 nil con 3 06> Samira is telling someone about the volunteer project that she is working on. Listen to these extracts from the conversation and answer questions 1-2. 1 Which items in 2 does she talk about? 2. What does she say about each one? 4 06> Listen again and complete the phrases that Samira uses in column A. Then work with a partner. Take turns to cover column A while your partner tests you using the definitions in column B. Example: A How can you say finish on time’? B ‘Meet the deadine’? A 1 2 fall 3 catch. 4 beback 5 finish 6 7 stay 8 © get 10 A Yes, tasks atask ‘updates B finish on time ‘make slow progress = getback to the original schedule ‘work to the predicted schedule ‘nish before the planned date = make use of people, money, time spend the right amount of money sive people different responsibilities do ajob receive reports on progress 5 Work in small groups. A colleague has been asked to take over running a project for someone who is off sick. He / she has never managed a project alone. He / she ‘has asked you for advice about how to manage the project and the project team. Discuss what advice you will give him / her. Then tell the class. ‘Example: He / she needs a realistic schedule to meet the deadline. 9 For more exercises, goto Practice file 2 on page 104, @ 2 Interactive Workbook 99 Glossary a ‘june: complete decorating june: safety checks s}08f0ld | zuun PiccararenE e) Tip | in time and on time In time nears having enough timo to beable to do something ‘fe leave row, well be there in time forthe meeting. Con time means atthe corect ima. 1 have fo be at work at 9 a.m and 1 always ave on time never lat, but I don ef be early citer. re emBusiness communication skills Meetings | Updating and delegating tasks 1. 07> Jamie Ortega oversees several volunteer projects in the Chicago area. He is calling Samira Khan to ask about the progress of the community centre project she 00, {is working on. Listen to their conversation and makes notes on Jamie's notepad. 63h Sera Kon Community cent?) 07> Listen again and complete these phrases. cheek ~ deadline ~ can they meet A? How over there? Well, so far Everything’ SHEE Sowhat’s the decorating? Were the ceiling. ‘And where _____ the lighting? We've So, ______the painting's nesrly done, Soi’ al going according 3 Put the phrases from 2 into these categories. a Asking for an update: b Giving an update: © Summarizing — 4. Work witha partner. Look at this schedule for an office move. Ask and answer questions about the project using phrases from 2. Example: A Whats happening withthe headed stationery? B We've ordered = decorating? ~ lighting? = carpe? = action? Task Deadline Date finished Order headed stationery 10/05 09/05 Order new furniture 10/05 10/05 —_— Send new address cards toclients 11/05 ‘Todo Issue staff with new badges 11/05 10/05 Tip | Dates Pack up paperwork 15/05 ongoing Dates are written differently in the US and the UK. In British English the cay comes belore the month, In. 5 08> Listen to this meeting between Samira, Jamie, and team members, Josie and American English the month comes Bruno, Who agrees to tore the dy. 1 meet the carpet suppliers? the tenth of May = 10/05 (British 2 buy the paint? Englst; 0570 ¢Amencan Engish) paint the celing? He6 08> Listen again. Mark 1-10: A (allocating a task), O (offering / agreeing to do a task), D (declining to do a task), or $ (summarizing). ‘We need somebody to be here then to open up. Can you do it? Leave it with me, lean go there this afternoon if you want. ‘Why don't I go there now? Td prefer not to if that's OK. come with you, then. You can carry on withthe rest ofthis paint I'msorry, Ihave an appointment, —___ 10 So, you two are going to get the paint . 9 For more exercises, goto Practice file 2 on page 104 7 Work with a partner. Some students are visiting your company and you need to: ‘book a room for the talk (task 1), get name badges (task 2), organize refreshments (task 3). Have a conversation using this flow chart. A Ask B to do task 1 Agree, and ask A to do task 2 A Decline and give a reason. 7 Offer to do task 2, A Offer to do task 3. ’ B Recap, 8 Work with a partner. Two project update meetings took place yesterday. Student A, turn to File 03 on page 136. Student B, use the information below. ‘Student B: You went to the Project 2 meeting. Your partner went to the Project 1 ‘meeting. Your partner will call you. Tell him / her about Project 2, then find out what is happening with Project 1. These are the things you need to know. © }» Interactive Workbook 9 Em: Practically speaking | How to start and end phone calls 1. Complete phrases a-fbelow. Which ones can you use to 41 start a call? 2 endacall?__ ‘a I'mretumingyour_.__ ¢ __'s(name)here. e What can I___ for you? b Thanksyourhelp. d —_forcalling f_ T'm____about /for /to... 2. Work with a partner. Have three phone calls using phrases from 1. You want to know the time of a meeting tomorrow. You want an expenses authorization form. + You are calling someone back with information about your holiday dates. Key expressions ‘Asking for an update How are things going? What's happening with Where are we with ..2 Giving an update So far so good. Everything's ontrack Were (+ -ng) .. We've finished / completed .., et. syaloid| Zz mun Deciining to do something ''m sory, | can’t. 1'm afraid I'm busy. prefer not to (that's OK). ‘Summarizing, So, to recap ... X is/am/are going to {tall going according to pl © » Interactive Workbook »> Phrasebank 15Language at work | Present simple and continuous 1 Lookat the verbs in bold in these two sentences. Which tenses are used and why? 1 Ym ealling for an update. ‘2 I get updates from people every two days. (2 Read these two questions. Are they talking about now or in general? Why do they use different tenses? 1 What's happening with the decorating? 2 What else do we need todo at the moment? 3. Complete these rules with simple or continuous. 1 Usethe present ____ to talk about general facts or regular actions. 2 Usethe present ____ to talk about a current action or temporary project. 3 Some verbs are not used in the present ‘when they are talking about states, not actions. For example: understand, like, ow, believe, mean, need. 4 Choose the correct answer from the words in italics. 1 What ise doing / does he do in my office? 2 He fixes /is fixing your computer. 3 He is knowing / knows what is wrong with it now. 4 He repairs /is repairing computers every day — that's his job. 1) For more information and exercises, go to Practice file 2 on page 105, 5 Work with a partner. Ask and answer questions using these prompts. ‘what / you / work on / this week? ‘you / like / travelling? how often / you / work ate? ‘you / have / any problems at work / at the moment? ‘who / you / talkto / right now? how many people / be / in your English class today? ‘what / you / think / at the moment? you / understand / the word ‘deadline"? 6 Write notes on the notepad below about some current events or activities in your life, 1 Give amini presentation to the class using your notes. 2 Listen to other members of the class and prepare two questions on their presentations. “Teaining or education Planning 2 holiday My wore My free time: Ways of practicing my Enaith Othe: @ » imeractive Workbook 29 Exercises and TestsEnviu isan international organization which helps young people develop profitable business ideas that have a positive effect on, the environment and the local community. Enviu is working in partnership with the architectural firm Déll on an exciting new project ~ a sustainable dance club in the city of Rotterdam. ‘The club will have a low impact on the environment, recycle energy, and raise u awareness among young people of social and environmental issues. Enviu and Dall are cooperating with the Technical University of Delt and the Development Board of Rotterdam. Around 80 volunteers, mostly students and young professionals, are working on the project. ‘They're helping to construct and equip the club ready for the launch party in a few weeks’ time. In what ways are nightclubs environmentally unfriendly? How could you make one more environmentally friendly? Listen to one of the volunteers talking about the project. Compare what she says with your answers to | and above. ‘You are part ofthe project team planning to open a sustainable club in your city or town. The project is nearly complete and you are now planning the launch party which will take place in one month. Read about the key tasks that need to be done in this table. The venue Finalize installation of clectrical equipment events Finish the decoration Equip the relaxation zone Install kitchens and tollets Hire and train staff ‘The launch party Confirm all Dis and special Confirm orders with food ‘and drink suppliers Publicity Print leaflets and posters ‘Start distributing leaflets and posters, send out invitations Receive delivery from food and drink suppliers Update the website Organize aradio advertisement tetrad cen Sette payer aey bu Perera ees = Spee paneer aoe Cane wae heroes ee ff is if one of the This requit ear thinking during planning, Pere rt cee: ‘ ‘The project team has divided into groups, A, B, and C. Each group has different responsibilities. Read the information for your group. Group A, turn to File 04 on page 136. Group B, turn to File 11 on page 138. Group C, turn to File 20 on page 140. ‘When you have read your information, hold a meeting to discuss the key tasks. Make sure you ‘know at the end of the meeting exactly what needs to be done, who will do it, and when. ‘+ Update the other members ofthe project team. ‘* Make a note ofthe tasks that are complete and of all the tasks that still have to be done. + Discuss as a team how you will proceed. ‘© Allocate tasks and create a schedule for completing them. SSL IPE rae LIL}136 Information files | 03-10 File 03 | Unit 2 Business communication skills, Exercise 8, page 15 Student A ‘You went to the Project 1 meeting. Your partner went to the Project 2 meeting, Call your partner to find out what's happening ‘with Project 2. Then, tell your partner about Project 1. These are the things you need to know. Projet 1 — organizing taining day for staf ‘+ Venue for training session — room booked ‘Hotel for trainers — Vietoria Hotel has available rooms, Inging to negotiate diseount + Lunch — nothing so fat. Nead someone to book eatarere and hagotiata paymant. * Information pack for trainees ~ need to ask trainers to ‘ond sehedule and summary of taining day + Transport batwoon hotel and office fr feainers — noed to bok tase Projoat 2 — raising money fora local ehilrene charity + Posters and leaflets? + 10 kin sponsored run? © Charity cate? + Other? File 04 | Unit 2 Case study, Task, Exercise 2, page 17 Group A You are working on the venue and all the equipment. Your responsibilities: © Organizing the installation of the dance floor, the sound. system, the toilets, and the kitchen equipment. ‘Painting and decorating the whole building. Buying plants and furniture for the relaxation zone, Your progress: All the equipment has been ordered. The energy-generating dance floor is ready to install, and the kitchen and toilets have been installed. Problems: You need a specialist electrician to complete the work fon the dance floor and link it up to the sound system and the lights. The company you booked has pulled out and you need to find a replacement. File 05 | Unit 4 Case study, Task, Exercise 2, page 29 Student A ‘Summarize these results for your partner. Do not read out the figures, but compare the results of ast year and this year. ‘ample: The numberof taf wing publi ransport isa great deal Last year This year of staff using public 59 36 transport °% of staff walking or 2 2 cycling to work ° of staff sharing a car to " a work File 06 | Unit 5 Business communication skills, Exercise 3, page 32 Student A You are the facilities manager for a chain of hotels in Singapore and Thailand. Call your partner to ask about the services they offer. Ask ia visit is possible, Give this information to your partner. ‘A chain of exclusively §-star hotels. ‘© Some of the hotels have gym facilities that are eight years old * There are twelve hotels in total. Two have no gym facites, * You are speaking to your finance manager about the budget next week.138 Information files File 14 | Unit 2 Case study, Task, Exercise 2, page 17 Group B ‘You are working onthe launch party event. ‘Your responsibilities: + Booking the Dis and other acts, + Organizing the special events, such as ethical clothing and make-up displays ‘* Ordering all the food and drink forthe event. + Hiring and training staff. ‘Your progress: You have stared booking people and so far the response is good. You have found local suppliers for most ofthe food and drink. You have advertised fr staff and have a number of candidates. You need to interview candidates, hie them, and setup a training day. Problems: The famous DJ you booked is no longer available. ‘You have found a replacement but hei asking a lot of money Which wil take you over budget. You still need to find a supplier of organic beer. File 12 | Unit 4 Case study, Task, Exercise 2, page 29 Student B ‘Summarize these results for your partner. Do not read out the figures, but compare the results of last year and this year. ‘Example: The number of staff arriving late isa great deal higher than Last year This year ‘of taf arriving late 53 er *% of stat doing festtime 2 ss ‘% of staff unable to find alternative parking (within walking distance of 43 “4 the company) File 13 | Unit 5 Case study, Task, Exercise 1, page 35 Student B ‘You work for a business consultancy. Student A calls you. Ask for more information. ‘+ What sort of reviews has the hotel received? What are the ‘main problems? ‘© What sort of image does the hotel want to project? ‘+ Arrange to visit the hotel. You are free on Thursday and Friday this week or Tuesday and Wednesday next week. 11-19 File 14 | Unit 5 Business communication skills, Exercise 3, page 32 Student B You are the facilities manager for a chain of hotels in Croatia, Call your partner to ask about the services they offer. Ask if visits possible. Give this information to your partner. © Acchain of 3-star and 4-star hotels near the beach. One of the 3-star hotels has a fitness gym which is fifteen years old. You want to update that one and have new gym {facilities in your other hotels. * Youhave one 4-star hotel and three 3-star hotels. ‘* You have a comfortable amount set aside for installing these facilities. le 15 | Unit 6 Case study, Task, Exercise 3, page 41 1 Have a film made showing day-to-day business and the lives of employees in the Swedish company and day-to-day ‘business and lives of employees in the Indian company. It ‘would include interviews with staff describing what they do ‘and how they go about their jobs. Show this to all employees, 2 Setup a virtual chat room so that colleagues can communicate anonymously with each other to air their ‘problems, ind out what the reasons might be, and to share ‘thoughts about their own cultures 3 Get an external trainer to run a training course for Swedish ‘and Indian managers about how to raise intercultural ‘awareness. The course includes role-plays and language training. 4 Have a ‘culture sharing meal / day' where Swedish and Indian colleagues spend a part ofthe day sharing their cultural ‘background with each other over Indian and Swedish food, 5 Bring Indian managers to Sweden for a vist to observe how ‘Swedish employees go about their day-to-day business. These ‘managers would then report their observations to their Indian ‘employees. File 16 | Unit 16 Case study, Task, Exercise 1, page 101 Student A ‘Mission: Face-to-face market research in local supermarket. Get ‘customers to taste the tea, Result: Not good because ‘© some customers don't ever drink tea « other customers like the taste but think the price is too high ‘© many customers have never seen this brand in the supermarket before. Conclusion: Need to persuade supermarkets to make tea more prominent on the shelves. Offer special deals.s. Information files | 20—27 File 20 | Unit 2 Case study, Task, Exercise 2, page 17 Group C ‘You are working on publicity for the club and the launch party. Your responsibilities * Advertising the launch party with leaflets and posters. « Issuing special invitations for local business people. ‘= Recording a commercial forthe local radio station, « Setting up a website and making sure it is up to date. ‘Your progress: The leaflets and posters are ready. You are still ‘waiting for the invitations. The website has been designed and. is working well. The radio commercial has been recorded and ‘needs to be approved by the team, Problems: You need help to distribute the leaflets and posters. ‘The website needs to be updated more frequently and expert help is expensive. File 21 | Unit 8 Case study, Task, Exercise 2, page 53 Group A Read these advantages of virtual working and share them with Group B. ‘© More efficient use of time ~ a team that stays in close contact and keeps an accurate record of its own progress is ‘more likely to get something done on time and under budget. ‘* Efficient use of training budget - organizations that already have the necessary technology and skills for online ‘communication have reported big savings on airfare, hotel ‘and restaurant costs, and other expenses associated with face-to-face training. + Increased productivity — too often organizations rely 50 ‘much on meetings that a decline in overall productivity is experienced. Team members don't waste time walking down corridors, taking in the doorways along the way, and waiting for others to arrive. Greater participation - virtual team members can decide when and where they will participate and as a result they ‘might feel able to participate more fully than they otherwise would. «© Better use of individual time —twelve minutes into a ‘meeting, your reason for attending may be over. You could leave, then return later to ‘listen in’ and perhaps add something more. ‘+ Greater equality - when you can't see the other people involved in the meeting, the organizational hierarchy doesn’t ‘completely disappear, butt does fade further into the ‘background, allowing individuals to express their position ‘mare fully and easily. ‘+ Less air pollution — when team members are able to work. from home or the office, and avoid travelling for meetings, ‘they lower their impact on the environment. le 22 | Unit 9 Business communication skills, Exercise 5, page 57 Student A Situation 1 Conversation 1 ‘You are the customer. You work for an oil company. You want to ‘order two drill pieces from $1 Engineering. ‘You have an account with the company. It is HKS68. Call S1 Engineering. Conversation 2 ‘You urgently need the pieces you ordered five days ago. Call the company and find out about your order. Situation 2 Conversation 1 You are a call handler for Haddows Trading, a fashion distributor. Accustomer calls you to place an order. Give this order reference: HTGS899. Conversation 2 ‘You receive another call from the customer. ‘There has been a problem with the order. Find out what the problem is and invent an excuse / explanation. Promise to take immediate action. (You can send a delivery van today ~ no extra charge.) File 23 | Unit 10 Case study, Task, Exercise 1, page 65 Student A Read this information on visitor numbers at last year’s event. Decide what attractions and facilities were popular, and make recommendations for this year's events to the rest of the committee. Total number of visitors: 358 (adults) Numbers of visitors (approximately) that ‘+ watched a promotional video about the work of the charity: 27 + rode on the Tour de France simulator: 152 + had lunch at the outdoor barbecue: 289 + 100k the guided tour of the factory: 95 ‘+ completed the quiz about the company: 43 «+ tried out the bikes on a special course: 235 ‘+ bought a lottery ticket for the charity (bicycles as prizes): 117 ‘+ had children who used the children's play area: 145 ‘= used the outdoor café: 231